[Ascaloth]

For the final review I will ever give on CLANNAD (TV) and CLANNAD ~After Story~, I will focus on a number of points, some of which may be divided into subpoints. These points are as follows;

Atmosphere

• Background Music (Key Sounds Label)
• Art Direction (Shinohara Mutsuo)
• Animation (Kyoto Animation)

The Cast

Main Characters

• Okazaki Tomoya (Nakamura Yuuichi)
• Okazaki (formerly Furukawa) Nagisa (Nakahara Mai)
• Okazaki Ushio (Koorogi Satomi)

Side Characters

• Furukawa Akio (Okiayu Ryotaro)
• Furukawa Sanae (Inoue Kikuko)
• Fujibayashi Kyou (Hirohashi Ryou)
• Fujibayashi Ryou (Kanda Akemi)
• Sakagami Tomoyo (Kuwashima Houko)
• Ichinose Kotomi (Noto Mamiko)
• Ibuki Fuuko (Nonaka Ai)
• Sunohara Youhei (Sakaguchi Daisuke)
• Sunohara Mei (Tamura Yukari)
• Miyazawa Yukine (Enomoto Atsuko)
• Sagara Misae (Yukino Satsuki)
• Yoshino Yuusuke (Midorikawa Hikaru)
  

Script

• Storyline Quality
• Pacing
• Internal Consistency

So there we have it, the basis by which I shall give my review on CLANNAD (TV) and CLANNAD ~After Story~. It’s going to be a long, long journey….
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This is the Animesuki Forums chapter of the Triple Critique for CLANNAD (TV) and CLANNAD ~After Story~. The Triple Critique is a system of three reviews on the same series, composed in differing formats for different preferences in reading material.

The RIUVA chapter offers a deeper look into the themes and characters as portrayed in both series, in the medium of an animeblog editorial

The Nihon Review chapter offers summarized reviews of both seasons in their own right: Sorrow-kun reviews the first season CLANNAD (TV), while I cover the second season CLANNAD ~After Story~.
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Atmosphere

A good anime series draws its viewing audience into its own world; to achieve that, it has to set a general mood. To create a certain mood, two things must be achieved; firstly, animation of at least decent quality animation must be present in order not to make the whole thing look too jarring to the viewer's eyes, and secondly, the appropriate set of background music must be selected, in order to convey the general emotions of any particular scene. Kyoto Animation, which was also responsible for AIR (TV) and Kanon (2006), have earned a reputation for creating a distinctive ambience within their renditions of the Keyverses, so does their rendition of the CLANNADverse prove that third time’s the charm?


Background Music (Key Sounds Label)

Spoiler for length:

A large part of what gives the various Keyverses their distinct identity are the pieces of Key Sounds Label, and this is especially so for both seasons of CLANNAD. With a soundtrack specifically designed to set the mood for various different events in a visual novel format, there is plenty of material to work with for every occasion, be it specific character themes, event songs, or the few vocal songs. Special mentions go to the delicate [i[Negai ga Kanau Basho II[/i] which highlights the most emotional scenes, the hauntingly ethereal Yuki no Hara, and especially Nagisa, the character theme named after the titular heroine of the story. Of course, it’s not a 100% perfect effort; Ana comes across as a well-meaning but ultimately lulz-worthy effort due to its odorously Engrish lyrics, and it is almost a universal agreement that Torch is probably one of the most inappropriate ED song ever used for a series such as After Story, which makes KyoAni’s almost autistic insistence on sticking with it throughout even more of a sin then it already is.

Yet, despite the slip-ups in the BGM department, it is undeniably clear that the CLANNAD OST in general more than lives up to the standards set by its predecessors from AIR and Kanon, and three pieces in particular captures the essence of CLANNAD to me; Toki wo Kizamu Uta, which rivals AIR’s Tori no Uta in its epic emotionality; a simple song not originally in the visual novel, but penned especially by Maeda for the anime series. Yes, that’s right, it’s Dango Daikazoku I’m talking about, a nice and simple song on first hearing, but one that truly grows on one with time, and if ever there was a song that has the potential to survive as a lullaby for the ages long after its source is all but forgotten, it would be this one. And finally, not to be forgotten is Chiisana Tenohira, a song of happy and sad memories, and of hope in the future, the perfect song to cap the long, long journey which the beloved characters of the story had just come to the end of. The OST is half of what makes the CLANNADverse distinct from its peers, and in that regard, it does a great job.

Rating for Background Music: 8.8/10


Art Direction (Shinohara Mutsuo)

Spoiler for length:

It is generally known that Kyoto Animation’s renditions of the Keyverses are visually highly distinctive, even compared to their Kadokawa product adaptations. While Shinohara was working under a different chief art director for AIR (TV), it was she who held that position for the production of Kanon (2006), as it is too for this series. Thus, it goes without saying that the visual aspect of both seasons of CLANNAD is of a similar level as that of the visually stunning Kanon (2006), and in fact, there are similarities in the visual aspects of both series.

That said, perhaps the TBS 4:3 broadcast (as opposed to the usual BS~I 16:9 one) of both series may have something to do with it, but it somehow feels as if KyoAni’s CLANNADverse didn’t quite have the distinctiveness that the previous KyoAni Keyverses displayed. The bright and sunny colours of summer is what characterizes the AIRverse, while the soft and lovely colours of winter did the same for the Kanonverse, but it’s not quite so easy to pin down upon first glance just what distinguishes the CLANNADverse from its peers. Sure, the sakura-laden path to school and the sunflower field amongst others is as beautiful a sight as KyoAni can offer to be sure, but both were hardly the dominant visual element that the sun and the snow were in the previous Key adaptations, and probably it has to be said that the CLANNADverse is made up of a multitude of scenery instead of one distinctive kind.

Nevertheless, the KyoAni rendition of the CLANNADverse remains as beautiful as any of its previous efforts, as the example of the Illusionary World best exemplifies. And when one lets go of expectations of sweeping vistas from Kanon (2006) and AIR (TV) and takes the evolution of the Town for what it is, it’s easier to realize that it is still a damned nice sight.

Rating for Art Direction: 8.2/10


Animation (Kyoto Animation)

Spoiler for length:

Breathtaking effects and near-flawless consistency are the twin pillars upon which Kyoto Animation built its reputation as an up-and-coming force to be reckoned with in the anime production industry; this can be evidenced from a look through of their previous works, from both Key Visual Arts and Kadokawa sources. Taken in that context, it is perhaps not entirely controversial to suggest that KyoAni isn’t quite the force they used to be; maybe it is the increasing expansion of the studio from a small backwater-based studio to one of the big boys in its own right, maybe it is the sign of a stagnating economy, maybe it is the fact that the CLANNAD project is the studio’s first ever 4-cour effort (even if it’s really 2+2), or maybe it is because of the fact that CLANNAD ~After Story~ was produced at a time when the studio was forsaking its one-at-a-time policy to try its hand at producing multiple projects at a time (Munto (TV), the Suzumiya Haruhi Youtube ONAs), but there are points within both series, especially in the early episodes of CLANNAD ~After Story~, where a possible financial strain on the studio’s coffers makes itself quite apparent in quality drops within the animation. One is forced to wonder where the near-flawless animation KyoAni was much vaunted for has gone, when one sees these instances of the studio not quite living up to the bar it itself set for everyone else in terms of animation consistency.

Thankfully, these instances are, if not almost absent altogether like it used to be, still relatively rare. And if anything, the breathtaking effects which KyoAni is also known for is still very much present; the hair still flows beautifully in the wind, the sakura petals drift through the air in a beautiful choreography of nature, the rain falling on the characters look just like how it would be in real life, and the snow drifting down upon the impending doom of some of the most loved characters in the story almost embody a silent requiem for them. Moreover, the Illusionary World sequences showcase the heights to which KyoAni can still reach if need be, and ultimately, though it may not have been the most beautiful effort ever by the studio, the visuals of both seasons of CLANNAD are still some of the best out there.

Rating for Animation: 8.5/10


Having long since graduated from being the dark horse within the animation industry, Kyoto Animation have since earned a status as one of the great studios in the popular imagination, with the quality of their previous works. While the audiovisual aspect of CLANNAD (TV) and CLANNAD ~After Story~ are not quite at the level of their predecessors, it remains at a level rivalled by few others, as well as one of the two important traits that makes KyoAni the studio that it is.

Overall Rating for Atmosphere: 8.5/10

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The Cast

A good setting lays the foundation of the world that the story takes place in, but it is the characters themselves who sets the foundation of the story itself; indeed, the storyline of the entire series rises and falls based on how well each and every character is handled; it's a fine line between making an individual character, or indeed the entire cast, look either dull and uninteresting, or over-the-top and lacking the ability to suspend the disbelief of the audience. With probably one of the biggest casts ever seen in a Key work, how does CLANNAD (TV) and CLANNAD ~After Story~ fare on this account?

As per usual, I will be rating the performance of the seiyuus as part of the competency in the execution of each individual character.


Main Characters
Large and varied is the cast of CLANNAD, yet there is no doubt that the story belonged to the three youngest members of the Okazaki clan. It is through the eyes of the three members of this one particular family through which we see the entire story unfold, and as such they would be the only ones who should be regarded as the main characters of this story.


Okazaki Tomoya (Nakamura Yuuichi)
”Nagisa, I’ve found it. I’ve finally found it. Something that only I can protect. Something irreplaceable that I have to protect. It’s….right here.”

Spoiler for length:

The male leads in the stories of Key are generally considered to be very strong characters, not pigeonholed into the stereotypes that plague modern-day anime, but interesting and well-developed in their own right. In that regard, Okazaki Tomoya is but the logical progression of such already strong male characters like Aizawa Yuuichi and Kunisaki Yukito. Yet, though the Key male lead archetype is already a strong foundation from which to work with, the eventual development and growth of Okazaki Tomoya is of such an extent unmatched by any other in recent memory.

From the beginning, the character of Okazaki Tomoya is an interesting one in its own right; a cynical delinquent who could see no colour in his life, he initially starts off merely looking for some fun to while the hours away, but through his interactions with many people in his life, he slowly but noticeably changes and grows over the course of the storyline. We see how these interactions bring out the innately kind nature of the outwardly apathetic delinquent, and how they subtly contrast with his pessimistic outlook on life. He is shown many times to be a conflicted individual in his youth, helping those around him find resolution in their lives, yet at the same time running away from his problems. We were shown how Tomoya slowly grew from being a self-absorbed youth, to a young man who has found something to live for and struggling his very hardest to mature quickly for that purpose, to someone who managed to pick himself up from crippling grief to take responsibility for another, to finally facing up to and finding resolution for the source of the flaws in his character that has plagued him for so long. Such character development could be matched by few others, yet it is noteworthy that without his interactions with the people around him, particularly two very important people in his life, Tomoya would not have gained the exceptional amount of character development that he has; which just helps to emphasize the theme of family as a force for change in one’s life.

In short, Okazaki Tomoya is probably one of the most complete characters I have ever seen in the medium of anime, period. There is no other character I can possibly think of that have exhibited so much growth as Tomoya did, and such a character calls for a seiyuu who can reflect the highs and lows in the life of such a man; and in that regard, Nakamura Yuuichi puts in an exemplary performance in this role, for the effort he puts into portraying the joy and grief experienced by Tomoya throughout his life is astounding indeed. Though Nakamura is an up-and-coming male seiyuu who started off in obscurity, but has since scored some big roles such as Saotome Alto of Macross Frontier and Graham Aker of Gundam 00, I will henceforth regard his defining role as that of Okazaki Tomoya of CLANNAD (TV) and CLANNAD ~After Story~, for he too has played a crucial part in making the character as complete as the latter has become.

Rating for Okazaki Tomoya: 9.8/10
Rating for Nakamura Yuuichi: 9.6/10


Okazaki (formerly Furukawa) Nagisa (Nakahara Mai)
” The people who love this town live here, and the town that is loved will love them. That should be the case, no matter where it may be.”

Spoiler for length:

When we first met this young lady at the bottom of the long, long path up the hill, little would most of us have expected just how far she would come. Starting off as a typical ‘weak girl’ archetype that Key is so fond of using, and then being helped along in her goals by the ‘stronger’ male lead, it’s little wonder that most viewers would immediately assume the course her character would take, and with initially more interesting personalities like Kyou and Tomoyo to share the spotlight with, one cannot really be blamed for assuming that Nagisa would turn out to be boring.

What a surprise, then, that she pulled on all of us. Despite her weak and hesitant personality at first glance, she quickly proved her worth as a character; despite the push she needed from Tomoya, she quickly established herself as the driving force in the relationship, often leading and steering Tomoya in her own way to accomplish many matters he would never have bothered to attempt by himself. As the product of the loving family that Tomoya had forgotten what it was like to have, Nagisa proved to be a great source of wisdom for her flawed man as well, slowly teaching him how to shed the childishly cynical view he had of his life, and ever pushing him to seek a resolution to things he had made a habit of running away from. As much as Tomoya was a great help to her, she too was a godsend to him, being instrumental in the long journey of growing up and maturing he was about to undertake. Nagisa grew because of Tomoya; Tomoya grew because of Nagisa. It almost feels like a sin to rate them separately, for neither could have become the great characters they eventually ended up as, without the influence of each other.

For a girl who looked weak at first glance, she proved to be unexpectedly strong and wise in a good way, living strongly all the way to the bitter end and beyond. A girl so wise and with so much innate strength despite her surface personality needs a seiyuu with the ability to portray these traits in a young voice, and Nakahara Mai proved a great casting for such a complex task indeed. A veteran of many roles in contrast to the relatively green Nakamura, her clear and bright voice was very much suited to the multifaceted character that was Okazaki Nagisa, and the rapport she struck up with Nakamura translated into a most unique chemistry between their respective characters Nagisa and Tomoya that underlined the strong bond between their characters.

Rating for Okazaki (Furukawa) Nagisa: 9.6/10
Rating for Nakahara Mai: 8.9/10


Okazaki Ushio (Koorogi Satomi)
”Sanae-san said.…it was okay to cry in the bathroom…and in Papa’s arms.”

Spoiler for length:

How does one construct a 5-year-old as a main character in her own right, instead of falling into the trap of pandering to lolicon conventions as would have been all too easy to do so? Therein lies the uniqueness of the character of Okazaki Ushio, who has under the pen of Maeda come across, not as a precocious loli as is common in the medium of anime and rare anywhere else, but as a young girl child who thinks, acts, and feels just like one of her age in real life.

As such, her behaviour is very cute and real, and yet at the same time it is the vehicle upon which the building of her character as a great one in its own right. It’s easy to see Ushio exactly for what she was portrayed as; a five-year-old girl wondering what her mother was like when she was alive, why her father never seemed to care about her like other fathers, why her family is not like that of others. Through the simple act of affirming her loneliness, and her need to feel loved by those who mattered to her, Ushio cemented her character as that of a real five-year-old, but at the same time also that of a human being in need of the companionship of her family, as a great character in her own right. More than that, she served as the catalyst for the completion of her father’s development as a character, just like her mother did before her. It is, then, perhaps no wonder why she has grabbed the hearts of a significant majority of the viewers, being a character who can be sincerely loved for being herself.

One can only imagine how difficult it must be to voice a 5-year-old girl who is not stereotyped to pander, but instead as a character in her own right. In that regard, Koorogi puts in a stellar performance as the little girl Ushio, whose innocent cries of loneliness shook the heart of the terrible father who neglected her for so long, as well as the hearts of many who have invested their love into the main characters of CLANNAD.

Rating for Okazaki Ushio: 9.3/10
Rating for Koorogi Satomi: 9.5/10


Side Characters
Though the Okazakis may hold the spotlight, CLANNAD is one of those stories where the supporting cast is truly critical to the growth and progress of the main characters. As per normal, I shall rate only those of the supporting characters who were important to the story. Of course, with the huge supporting cast that CLANNAD has, it may well prove to be a much greater task than usual….


Furukawa Akio (Okiayu Ryotaro)
”Hey, brat....no, Tomoya. I’m sure that painful and saddening things are waiting for you. If it’s you two….if it’s us….we can overcome this. We’re family. We’ll help each other out.”

Spoiler for length:

Father-figure characters don’t tend to feature too often in Key’s stories; indeed, that seems to be the case with anime in general. However, though that may well be part of the reason why he stands out as a character, the fact remains that Akio is probably the most important supporting character within the CLANNAD storyline not only because the fact that he accounts for a significant portion of the hilarity that makes the split series such a fun watch, but also because he serves as a true mentor figure for Tomoya in every way.

Though he is a fun character in his own right, the true strength of Akio’s character comes from the fact that he dispenses a great deal of wisdom borne of experience as well, and it is this wisdom which also plays a significant part in Tomoya’s own character development. One can laugh at the man’s more childish antics and his propensity for pseudo-GAR posing, but by the same token, one cannot help but listen just as attentively as Tomoya does when Akio talks to him about the importance of family, and it is hard not to truly admire the man in moments when his true GAR shines through, such as when he was yelling at Nagisa to get her act together, or calmly telling Sanae that it is now okay for her to cry. It’s hard not to admit that that is a sign of a true man, a sign of true GAR.

A character as fun and off-the-wall, yet at the same time as easy to admire for both his wisdom and his manliness as Akio, is a rare character indeed. Okiayu Ryotaro, a veteran seiyuu dating from the previous era of seiyuu of Hayashibara Megumi and Kouda Mariko, shows his mettle as an experienced voice actor by portraying both aspects of the character of Furukawa Akio to the fullest extent; it is hard to imagine him as possibly being anyone else.

Rating for Furukawa Akio: 9.1/10
Rating for Okiayu Ryotaro: 9.3/10


Furukawa Sanae (Inoue Kikuko)
”Tomoya-san, Nagisa is our dream. And from today onward, you will also be our dream. The happiness you two share is our dream.”

Spoiler for length:

Very much in the style of the classic Key MILFs, being a gentle soul who appears to have the ability to defy the ravages of time indefinitely, as well as possessing the standard Lethal Chef skills to boot, Furukawa Sanae is without question designed as a signature variant of the many appeal factors regularly employed in the Key stories, just as her predecessors before her have been. Yet even so, though her moeness is emphasised in her character, she is much like Akio in that she also serves an important purpose as a mentor figure to Tomoya, helping him along in his growth as a human being, though to a lesser extent than her husband. Like the rest of the Furukawa clan, including her husband and her daughter who is destined to marry into the Okazaki clan, she has a fun and seemingly none-too-bright surface personality, but her wisdom shines through at critical moments when she has something to teach to the son-in-law who has much to learn. We hardly to see just what Sanae-san is thinking at any time, but just that one moment in episode 19 makes it very clear that the woman is more than she seems.

For a “young” mother figure, the veteran 17-year-old seiyuu Inoue Kikuko of Belldandy fame is always a good choice as a casting, and she proves this in her performance of her role as Furukawa Sanae, handling both the silly and wise aspects of the character in the way only she is capable of.

Rating for Furukawa Sanae: 8.6/10
Rating for Inoue Kikuko: 8.9/10


Fujibayashi Kyou (Hirohashi Ryou)
”Even I felt a little tense before meeting with you guys today. It’s felt like you two had gone far ahead of us in life or something.”

Spoiler for length:

A dictionary-launching, martially proficient, highly sexualized tsundere with a wit almost at the level of the legendary troll that is Tomoya, as well as a caring streak towards her weaker sister; what’s not to like? One of the more interesting side characters from the beginning due to her personality, it’s little surprise that Kyou proved to be one of the more popular characters in the cast from the start of the story. Hirohashi must be credited for her effort at creating a unique-sounding voice profile that was instrumental in making Kyou such an engaging character for the audience.

Unfortunately, as her story in her original source completely conflicted that of Nagisa’s, the latter of which was the main story portrayed in the anime series, there was simply no space to fit her story into the overall narrative, leading to its excision. And with the greater part of her story cut out, Kyou unfortunately ended up one of the more pointless supporting characters within the cast, only playing the part of the jilted girl with little more contribution to the overall themes and narrative. It is a pity, even if she made a few more appearances in the second season, for a character with her engaging personality could have been used for so much more.

Rating for Fujibayashi Kyou: 7.0/10
Rating for Hirohashi Ryou: 8.9/10


Fujibayashi Ryou (Kanda Akemi)
”There isn’t just one future, but many possibilities. I still believe that.”

Spoiler for length:

With hers and Kyou’s story being pretty much one and the same, it unfortunately has be stated outright; Ryou suffers pretty much the same shaft treatment that her sister did, leaving her with little in the way of contribution towards the main narrative, apart from her dropping a hint about the true nature of the world that the CLANNAD storyline is set in. And unlike Kyou, Ryou’s personality is not even anywhere near as magnetic as Kyou’s was, being a doormat personality type that just keeps getting pushed around by those around her, and generally a lot less interesting to the audience. Even though it’s not as if she sounded like a particularly interesting character either, Kanda probably couldn’t do very much to make her role one to be remembered.

Rating for Fujibayashi Ryou: 6.2/10
Rating for Kanda Akemi: 7.0/10


Sakagami Tomoyo (Kuwashima Houko)
”No matter how depressing it may look, the most important places don’t change. I think it’s the same for family, as well.”

Spoiler for length:

Another of the fan favourites amongst the cast, Tomoyo also presented amongst one of the more interesting personalities, although for far different reasons from that of Kyou; a naturally tomboyish disposition seeking to become more feminine, and being somehow relatively clueless about the social norms of Japanese society, it was amusing to see her struggle or more often completely fail to come to grasp the social consequences of her actions. This aspect becomes especially hilarious whenever she gets paired off against Kyou, leading to a fire/ice dynamic that tickles with its incongruous nature. Of course, the emphasis on her physicality, particularly when it is used as the end result of one of Sunohara’s failed pranks, certainly didn’t hurt either.

Although she suffers the same fate as Kyou of having her story be entirely conflicting with the main storyline, and thus excised, Tomoyo was a bit luckier in that she still had something left to contribute to the overall narrative, and especially to the theme of family which underlies the story of the series. Of course, it is a little disappointing that she all but disappears towards the end of the second season, when even the Drama Club members still make sporadic appearances every once in a while. Kuwashima, another veteran of the seiyuu business, shows her mettle in a distinctive performance as Tomoyo, a girl with a naturally tomboyish voice tone attempting to be feminine, and one with much seriousness and ambition in her personality.

Rating for Sakagami Tomoyo: 7.8/10
Rating for Kuwashima Houko: 8.4/10


Ichinose Kotomi (Noto Mamiko)
”I’ve waited all this time. ‘Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, yesterday a deer, and today you’. You’re Tomoya-kun.”

Spoiler for length:

Of all of the CLANNAD heroines, Kotomi’s character is most like that of the classic Key heroines, and for that matter, the same goes for her storyline. In fact, it also feels as if Kotomi was what one got should one attempt to distil the purest essence of moe from past Key heroines; because of that, Kotomi as a character is destined to appeal to only a certain segment of the viewership, and not so much to others.

Like I mentioned earlier, even her storyline feels like a throwback to the storylines often used in the previous two Key works, especially Kanon; there’s almost certainly nothing new about the concept of a childhood friend being forgotten, and then rediscovered later on. Even then, although the usage of “The Dandelion Girl” short story as a theme of her story may be an inspired choice in the visual novel’s scenario, the necessity of KyoAni’s approach to replace the romance portion of her story with a semi-platonic one leaves it without much of the impact it was supposed to have. Lastly, the resolution to the other half of her storyline also stretches believability somewhat, one might almost say just like how classic Key storylines used to.

All in all, the character and storyline of Kotomi is so steeped in classic Key conventions, that its mileage may vary for different viewers depending on their individual appetite for these conventions. Kotomi is one of those characters that only Noto can really play with her unique voice, and while she certainly does not exceed expectations there for the most part, her traumatic performance in episode 12 of the first season does warrant special mention.

Rating for Ichinose Kotomi: 8.0/10
Rating for Noto Mamiko: 7.6/10


Ibuki Fuuko (Nonaka Ai)
”Fuuko always kept being pulled to such fun places. Everyday was fun, just like the starfish festival. Thank you so much. Fuuko had fun.”

Spoiler for length:

With an extremely childish personality, Fuuko is by far the most polarizing of the CLANNAD heroines, splitting the viewers into the few who are endeared to her innocent ways, and the rest for whom Fuuko’s immaturity grated on their senses. In fact, her character is often capable of going to such a childish extreme, that it’s hard not to see what some people refer to as ‘retard moe’. On first glance, it seems as if Fuuko is a character who would take a lot of patience to love.

That said, somehow it is the character who is initially the hardest to love who actually becomes the easiest to empathize with. Despite being none too bright most of the time, there are moments when Fuuko appears to be more than she seems, having a depth of character that is definitely there even if it doesn’t show itself that often. And for such a hard-to-love personality, it is Fuuko who has the best story of the supporting characters, packing the largest emotional impact of the first season even if it isn’t quite at the level of the bombshells of the second season, and being the most meaningful in terms of its contribution to the theme of family, to boot.

Fuuko may be the hardest character to love and empathize with initially amongst the supporting characters, but she turns out to have amongst the best character development and story in the end, even if she got somewhat misused on several occasions after her story arc had ended. Nonaka as the voice of Fuuko puts in a performance that, while not necessarily of any help for those who found the character’s behaviour irritating to begin with, was certainly definitive of Fuuko’s personality.

Rating for Ibuki Fuuko: 9.0/10
Rating for Nonaka Ai: 7.8/10


Sunohara Youhei (Sakaguchi Daisuke)
”Well, they say friends you make during school will forever be friends. Though the only time you can do something stupid like this is now, even if it’s just being stupid.”

Spoiler for length:

Oh, how much less fun CLANNAD would be without this guy. The idiot sidekick to Tomoya and a constant source of entertainment during the School Life season, Sunohara should be respected for always volunteering to take one for the team for the sake of the hilarity which made the first season such a great watch in its own right. From getting pummelled every which way by Kyou and Tomoyo, to getting trolled by legendary troll Tomoya, to being the butt of homosexual jokes, the presence of Sunohara was critical to the great chemistry that revolved around the characters of the School Life arc.

However, he was not just a punching bag for laughs; Sunohara was at the same time one of the more developed sidekick characters in anime, as is evidenced by the several times he displays a more thoughtful side to himself. Even though his own dedicated arc was a melodramatic trainwreck which puts him in a bad light, it also helps the development of his character as well by highlighting his worst character flaws alongside the better aspects of his character. It is a pity he got significantly less time once the After Story necessitated that the bulk of the focus shift to the main couple, but he was a great character with the amount of time that he had. Kudos to Sakaguchi, for the memorable character of Sunohara was due in large part to the variety with which he used his voice to portray the best and worst aspects of the character.

Rating for Sunohara Youhei: 8.4/10
Rating for Sakaguchi Daisuke: 8.8/10


Sunohara Mei (Tamura Yukari)
”When I cried, onii-chan would always come right away. ‘Don’t make Mei cry!’ I was so happy. I felt confident in him.”

Spoiler for length:

A precocious loli much smarter than her good-for-nothing brother, Mei was a delight from the first moment she appeared. Her appeal was only enhanced by the fact that she turned out to be much more competent than the older Sunohara, being smart and very capable for her age. And to be honest, the clear voice of Tamura is always great to listen to, and it is her voice that forms a big part of Mei’s shining personality.

It’s kind of too bad, then, that the character arc which she shares with the older Sunohara seems to downgrade her apparent intelligence by a few notches, causing her to make decisions one would not have expected of her from her earlier, more thought-out actions. Melodrama is not an easy tool to work with, but it can definitely produce results when executed well; however, this was unfortunately not quite the case, as the Sunohara Arc ended up as a melodramatic trainwreck instead. Still, despite that, the girl definitely had her moments to remember her by.

Rating for Sunohara Mei: 7.6/10
Rating for Tamura Yukari: 8.0/10


Miyazawa Yukine (Enomoto Atsuko)
”I wondered, why was it I didn’t understand better how my brother lived his life? That’s why I built up the courage to get closer to everyone.”

Spoiler for length:

Yukine is probably the most unfortunate character in the CLANNAD anime series, given that her arc was given a complete reworking which was either the result of subpar source material to begin with, or fell far short of the otherwise decent quality of its source material. KyoAni is regarded even to this day as the studio to go to for adaptations of existing works, but the reworked Yukine arc is one of their biggest examples of their Achilles heel; they still don’t have any scriptwriters capable of good quality original content in their own right, and this showed in how her story arc pretty much felt flat on its face. Whatever it was, it didn’t do justice to the character of Yukine at all, and while a possible reason for the rework is to give Enomoto a chance to emote more strongly than the usual tone she has to use for Yukine, it’s kind of hard to take either the story arc or her character seriously in the first place.

Rating for Miyazawa Yukine: 6.2/10
Rating for Enomoto Atsuko: 7.1/10


Yoshino Yuusuke (Midorikawa Hikaru)
”But he had lost sight of his path. He should have continued singing. Not for anyone’s sake, but love songs for that one person….Okazaki, what’s important is not losing sight of your path.”

Spoiler for length:

Though Yoshino appeared to be a background character in the early days of the CLANNAD storyline, being present mostly to spout cheesy lines and serve as a side character in Fuuko’s story arc, he becomes particularly important later on in the After Story portion of the storyline. It’s not just because he served as the catalyst for Tomoya to move on to the next stage of his life, but it is because he also served in a small, but important role as a minor mentor figure for the young man trying his best to become a full-fledged member of society. His self-narration of his life story as a life lesson for the younger Tomoya carries a meaningful message within its words, and for that and many other examples of his mentoring, I regard Yoshino as an important side characters, whose development, while rushed, was very complete and contributed fully to the overall narration.

Kudos must go to the veteran seiyuu Midorikawa, if only for the fact that it must take great effort to recite lines so redolent with the smell of cheese with such a straight tone. Of course, it’s not only that; Yoshino is a character very much in the typecast of Midorikawa, but the latter shows just why that is so with a solid performance.

Rating for Yoshino Yuusuke: 8.0/10
Rating for Midorikawa Hikaru: 8.5/10


It probably goes without saying that, when all is said and done, the overall narrative that makes up CLANNAD (TV) and CLANNAD ~After Story~ belongs to the main characters, the three members of the Okazaki clan whom we’ve seen prosper and grow in each others’ company. In their joys and their griefs, we’ve participated in it all as they go through the vicissitudes of the long journey of life that they’ve been through. However, the Okazakis would not have come so far without the support of the huge, and generally well-developed supporting cast with which they share the setting and the story. In that sense, the CLANNAD storyline really is about family; for through living with and depending on others, only could one grow as a person, and it even goes for them as well.

Overall Rating for The Cast: 9.3/10

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Script

A good story; that is what an audience expects, regardless of whether the medium is a book, TV, a movie, or even in this case, an anime. And to get a good story, you need a promising premise, a logical yet appetizing plot, and most importantly of all, inspired direction to make the story really shine amongst its peers. It is often said that CLANNAD, especially the After Story, is one of if not the best piece of work that Maeda Jun and his cowriters at Key have ever penned to date; is such praise mere hyperbole, or does it live up to everything which has been said about it?


Storyline Quality

Spoiler for length:

Though it is ostensibly the same overall narrative, the CLANNAD storyline is definitely comes in the two different phases which came from the visual novel itself; the School Life arc, which covers the entire first season of CLANNAD and the first 8 episodes of the second season, and the After Story, which covered the rest. Because of this, the storyline should be looked at in this manner respectively.

The School Life story arc, which spans across KyoAni’s take on the individual story arcs of the five “main” girls as well as some side stories, is a pretty good watch in itself. While it had some emotionally affecting moments, such as the end of the Fuuko and Kotomi arcs, it was otherwise a typical school life slice-of-life story, albeit with some of the best comedy for a series not entirely within the comedy genre. What it was not, despite the forays into the story arcs of two of the “main” female characters, was a standalone work meant to match the previous couple of Key offerings in terms of epic emotionality; despite one point where it becomes a harem sequence, the School Life arc was always about the starting point of the main couple, and how they grew and matured through the interactions of the people around them. By itself, it was an above-average school-life comedy/romance that based itself around the building relationship between Okazaki Tomoya and Furukawa Nagisa, and thus helped us to get acquainted, familiar, and eventually invested in the shared fate between the two.

But as for the After Story….ah, that is a whole new level altogether. Without the School Life arc, we would not have become as invested in Tomoya and Nagisa as we have, and it is this foundation of great emotional investment in the main couple that gives the After Story as much impact as it does. And indeed, it is safe to say that the first part of After Story belonged to these two; we watched as they struggled to adjust to a lot less fun, lot more serious way of life as full members of society, a far cry from the relatively halcyon days of their schooling days. We witnessed them maturing through the times, starting a family of their own, and after the key point where Nagisa was taken out of the equation, we saw how the broken Tomoya eventually managed to pick himself up, and come to terms with the greatest loss in his life, as well as the good that came out of it still; his daughter Ushio, who proceeds to lead her father on further journeys of development, growth and resolution in her mother’s stead, to the bitter end and beyond. In short, the suggestion that CLANNAD, especially the After Story portion, is quite probably the best piece of work ever written by Maeda and produced by Key is not mere hyperbole; it is indeed worthy of such a claim, even despite the less-than-perfect ending which caps off the run of one of the most memorable stories ever.

Still, it should bear mentioning that without the setup of the School Life arc, the After Story probably would not have as much impact as it did; in that sense, the CLANNAD storyline is indeed an overall narrative to be taken as such in its own right. There are few other series which hold as its themes this much joy, this much pain, this much fun, this much grief, and ultimately, this much love; it is indeed the narrative of Family, as was promised by Maeda years ago when he named the title of Key’s third release what it is.

Rating for Storyline Quality: 9.3/10


Pacing

Spoiler for length:

As with all previous KyoAni Key adaptations, the pacing of both seasons of CLANNAD were generally smooth throughout, with the exceptions of several hiccups here and there. The School Life arc in particular goes at a steady clip, and while the first 8 episodes of ~After Story~ interrupted the flow of the narrative somewhat, equilibrium was fully restored by the 9th episode, when the actual After Story content from the visual novel fully kicked into gear at that point.

Things started getting faster from then on, but never did it feel rushed even as the story covered approximately a decade in the same amount of time that it covered one year in the School Life arc. This could be because of the fundamentally different nature of both sets of narrative, for while the School Life material was a relaxed telling of high school antics within a group of friends, the After Story material tracked the important milestones of the main couple over their continually maturing relationship. From then on, though the narrative relied on one more time skip to get to the final portion of its story, it wasted no time on attaining resolutions on all the loose ends which had been present since the very beginning, even though it went into the final stretch of the last episode perhaps a little too quickly. Apart from the first 8 episodes of the second season, never have I felt that the narrative could have benefited from moving faster or slower; it was at all the right speeds, at the right times.

Rating for Pacing: 8.8/10


Internal Consistency

Spoiler for length:

For the most part, CLANNAD’s overall narrative retained a decent level of consistency throughout; although the first 8 episodes were a slight blip on the consistency front, for the most part every thread in the story tied up nicely, all the way until the end at least in the “real world” part of the setting. The one thing about Key works is that they tend to tie back into a fantastical element which isn’t always fully explained, and it is no different in the case of CLANNAD with the existence of the Illusionary World, the presence of which is, while explained at the very end, remains rather ambiguous as to its very nature. Because of this, whether a viewer can accept the ambiguously fantastical element of the CLANNAD narrative is pretty much rooted in personal mileage. Still overall, CLANNAD has a decent level of consistency throughout its overall narrative, which makes for a nice experience overall.

Rating for Internal Consistency: 8.3/10


In the end, CLANNAD was everything it was said to be; the best story from Key to date, and quite possibly a standard that even Maeda himself, as he personally has admitted, may never reach again. Though the challenge of adapting a multi-path visual novel source into a linear anime series meant a drop in consistency was inevitable, and though there was a point when the flow of the narrative wasn’t as smooth as it usually was, KyoAni once again proves their mettle as the studio to go to for adaptations of original source material, and the exceptional journey may, despite its flaws, well become a classic to be remembered long after its broadcast.

Overall Rating for Script: 8.7/10

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Overall Execution

Overall, CLANNAD (TV) and CLANNAD ~After Story~ is a long, long journey that shall remain memorable long after the excitement of its experience has died down. The collaboration between Key Visual Arts and Kyoto Animation has created an epic narrative, the scope of which could be challenged by few others in its genre, and which brought joy, grief, love, and sorrow to all who have stuck with it to the bitter end and beyond. Once again, Key/KyoAni has set a new standard within visual novel anime adaptations; for years to come, when viewers ponder the merits of a romance drama airing in the near future, they will inevitably compare it to the epic scope of the CLANNAD narrative, for it would have become a classic in its own right. CLANNAD is Family. CLANNAD is Life.

Final Rating for CLANNAD (TV) and CLANNAD ~After Story~: 9.1/10. Rounded down to: 9/10